London: The share price in Apple has dropped by over 12 percent, slicing over 50 billion dollars from its market value over fears the tech giant is losing the smartphone ‘screen-size war’.

The drop of 63.51 dollars to 450.50 dollars was prompted by weaker-than-expected iPhone sales, which were revealed on Wednesday.

Apple said it sold a record 47.8 million iPhones in the quarter ending in December, but this lagged behind the average analyst forecast of 50 million units.

According to Sky News, Jefferies & Company analyst Peter Misek, who previously raised red flags about Apple cutting orders to suppliers, said the iPhone slowdown was "real and material" and here to stay.

Misek further said that Apple is apparently ‘losing the screen-size wars’.

He added that demand was moving away from the iPhone’s 3.5-inch and 4-inch screens to screens of 5-inches offered by Samsung and Nokia.

The report pointed out that competition from Samsung and signs that the smartphone market may be close to saturation have slowed Apple’s growth.

Questions remain over the company’s ability to innovate after the death of iconic co-founder Steve Jobs, the report added.